Restaurant Night Fundraisers: Are They Worth It?

family dining at a restaurant

A restaurant night fundraiser (also known as a dine-to-donate fundraiser) is a win-win opportunity: your organization brings in customers to a local restaurant, and in return, they'll help you raise funds for your cause.

In this helpful guide, learn how to make the most of restaurant night or dine-and-donate fundraisers. Plus, learn how to incorporate gift card fundraising into your next restaurant fundraiser to earn even more.

How does restaurant night fundraising work?

Restaurant fundraisers and dine-to-donate fundraisers help groups make money with minimal effort. Here's how to get started in three simple steps:

Pick a restaurant

Contact local or chain restaurants where you'd like to have your restaurant fundraiser. Many places already have fundraising models available on their website, so you can find out exactly how they do it.

Choose a date

Pick a night that works best for both the restaurant and your community members. Restaurants will typically only allow you to host your fundraiser on weekdays (when they're generally less busy).

Promote the event

Advertise your dine-to-donate fundraiser to your community members. Most restaurants will need guests to show a flyer to count their purchase toward your fundraiser, so remind everyone to bring one or have them available at the restaurant.

Restaurant night fundraising is mutually beneficial to you and the business. The restaurant gets more customers to come (and, hopefully, return) to its establishment while you collect some of the profits for your cause.

How much do restaurant night fundraisers raise?

Your group can earn anywhere from 5% to 35% of sales for your cause, depending on the restaurant's fundraising guidelines; this may include food sales only or the total amount of sales.

Fortunately, there aren't many costs associated with dine-to-donate fundraisers besides the optional marketing or flyer printing expenses. The biggest factor to consider is the profit margin you'll collect from the restaurant.

You may decide to host your restaurant fundraiser as a single event, but some restaurants allow your fundraiser to run regularly, like quarterly or monthly. If you choose this route, you can earn money for your cause continuously.

In our recent survey of experienced fundraising managers, 15% identified restaurant nights as a highly effective fundraising strategy. They all rated these events as 'very successful' and 'very easy' to run, earning anywhere from $250 to $1,000 in one night with minimal upfront expenses.

Example of Chipotle restaurant fundraising flyer

Pros and cons of restaurant night fundraisers

If it's your first time putting together a dine-to-donate fundraiser, you'll want to weigh the pros and cons of this strategy.

Pros:

Low effort
Inexpensive
Enjoyable

Diversifying your restaurant fundraising program is easy, as you don't necessarily have to fundraise at the same restaurant twice. Offering your community members different cuisines could keep their engagement up.

However, there are some cons, such as:

Varying profit margins—Depending on the restaurant's fundraising policies, you may not end the night with as much money as you'd expect.
Scheduling conflicts—Since dine-to-donate fundraisers usually occur on weeknights, you may be limiting participation from community members with work or other commitments.
Personal taste differences—Simply put, you can't please everyone. Some people may choose not to come to your fundraiser because they dislike the food or that particular restaurant.

Overall, our verdict is yes, a restaurant night fundraiser is worth it. They require minimal effort and can still yield a solid return for your organization.

To minimize the disadvantages of restaurant fundraising, combine it with something even more effective: RaiseRight.

Boost restaurant fundraiser earnings with RaiseRight

RaiseRight helps you earn money as you shop, dine, or book travel, and it pairs seamlessly with restaurant night and dine-to-donate fundraisers.

Simply purchase restaurant gift cards through RaiseRight to pay for meals at dine-to-donate nights. The brand gives back a percentage of every gift card purchase to you and your organization—before you even step into the restaurant.

Choose from 200+ restaurants (and 70+ fast food options), many of which already offer fundraising programs. Restaurant gift cards earn an average of 10% back—one of the highest earning categories on RaiseRight. When you use these gift cards at a restaurant night fundraiser, you'll earn twice from the same event!

If you're looking for the best restaurant fundraisers but don't know where to start, here are some popular choices that offer both dine-to-donate events and gift card earnings through RaiseRight:

"We love doing fundraisers with Texas Roadhouse because of their high earnings on RaiseRight," says Katy L., who uses RaiseRight to fundraise for Pride Kids Sports Booster Club in Illinois. "We earn 20% from the restaurant fundraiser, and by paying with RaiseRight eGift cards, we earn up to 13% more!"

If your preferred restaurant isn't available on RaiseRight, you can still earn by using a universal prepaid card from RaiseRight to pay for your meal.

Or, plan your fundraiser with a restaurant that offers 5% back through RaiseRight's local dining program. Attendees will earn 5% on all transactions—tax and tip included!

Even better, RaiseRight offers more than just restaurants. There are hundreds more brands across all categories, from gas to groceries, clothing, entertainment, travel, and more! It's the #1 way to fundraise with everyday purchases: